It is safe to say that there are very few factors which hold equal importance across all of the thousands of offices spanning the length and breadth of the country. For some organisations the focus is upon sales generation, for others creativity is at the fore: the list is endless. One of the few aspects of business which is a constant across almost all organisations however is efficiency: whether in reference to time, resources, people or capital- or in the case of the best run companies: all four.

Office equipment and warehouse stationery is something which few companies really look too much into, it is often one of many tasks for an administrator in large organisations and an afterthought for someone with other more pressing roles in smaller companies. As a consequence, many businesses simply opt for office supplies companies they have heard of regardless of their price or service. It is however beneficial to spend a little time looking into the best supplier for your particular needs and this process needn't take much time provided the following factors are considered:

Price

A large stationery warehouse, whether based on the high street or online, will offer buy one get one free style offers for limited periods on some items. Offers of this nature tend to serve two main purposes: to draw in prospective customers by offering a 'loss leader' product in the hope that they will also buy items with a higher profit margin while taking advantage of the promotion or to shift excess stock in a specific item which has under-sold or is taking up too much shelf/warehouse space. Putting promotions aside, large retailers rarely offer the lowest price across the range of their stock as they know that due to brand loyalty, customers will often be willing to either pay more or are unaware of the availability of lower prices elsewhere. Newer, smaller or purely online retailers are more likely to compete on price-point due to a desire to entice new customers and lower operational costs.

Location

In terms of delivery time it goes without saying that a stationery warehouse based around the corner from your office is able to dispatch products to you faster than one whose distribution centre is based offshore or at the other end of the country. As such it is likely that the speed of service offered by a local supplier will on the most part be faster than that of a large company who serve the whole country and beyond. Furthermore, the delivery costs encountered by either party will be lower: giving the purchaser a little more leverage when it comes to price negotiation.

Customer Retention

From experience, the service offered by an organisation that depends on your custom is far superior to that of a company with such a large client base that the loss of a contract is barely noticeable in their accounts. With smaller, local office suppliers, your calls and emails will most likely be addressed by a small team of individuals who will come to know you by name and as such feel obliged to serve your needs to the best of their abilities. Huge corporations on the other hand tend to utilise vast call centres which make it hard to not only speak to the same person more than once, but also often a challenge to even get in touch with a relevant individual if you encounter a problem.

In summary, when looking for an office supplies company it is a great starting point to consider those in the local area initially. Once you've compiled a list of nearby suppliers and checked which are the most competitively priced it is well worth giving the most attractive proposition a go and seeing the difference they offer in terms of price and service compared to the household name retailers.